Friday, October 24, 2014

So I stepped on the scale this week and the miracle that happened a couple of weeks ago was not a dream, I repeat not a dream people. I weighed in at 299.6 which means I can officially claim my spot in the 200 club.

However, while I am still celebrating I have really been struggling with consistency. I have a whole lot of excuses but I will not bore you with them, they are typical excuses.

I really want to be in the 280s by Thanksgiving so I am joining SkinnyMeg's dietbet next week and going to get my butt to the gym 3 times a week to lift following the lifting workout she also shared HERE. God bless her for helping out us struggling folk!

So now on to the Old Navy part. Last weekend I stopped in to Old Navy to look for some winter clothes for Madelynn. While I was there I was curious to see how far I have to go before I can start wearing their clothes again (used to be one of my favorite stores in HS).

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

I CAN FIT INTO XXL TOPS AT OLD NAVY!!!!!!! The black shirt is a BUTTON down shirt for goodness sake! There are button down shirts at Lane Bryant that I cannot get to fit right, so you bet your sweet fanny I bought that shirt (clearance $9)! Oh and I am totally going to get that jacket, I am still trying to decide what color.

So there ya have it, this is my motivation for getting my butt in gear and really hammering it in before the holidays (and through the holidays). I want Lane Bryant to be a distant memory by January 1.

What is currently motivating you?

Be sure to check out the other ladies linking up for Fitness Friday HERE

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

I will be the first to say that marriage is hard work. Some days I am so angry at Brent I can't see straight and other days I am gushing with love for him. We have finally reached a place in our relationship where the happy days far outnumbers the tough days. If I'm speaking honestly it is because I let go.

After we first got married I had images of what an ideal marriage was and how our lives were going to play out. First mistake. I would get all worked up because I would make myself think he had to do certain things to prove his love for me. I would get angry because he didn't do this or that like I wanted.

Fast forward a few years, we are almost four years in to our marriage and we become parents. Becoming parents put a significant strain on our relationship. There was a while where I wasn't sure if we were going to make it. We lived life always putting Madelynn first and slowly our relationship dwindled. I became so depressed because I would imagine a love/marriage like in the books I read (I was reading a lot of Nicholas Sparks around that time) or in the movies I watched.

After a couple of years of bumpy roads things started to get better. Each day we were fighting less, laughing more and genuinely enjoying being together. Just the other day I found myself thinking about why am I so happy now and how our marriage has become stronger than it has ever been?

This is why...

I let go of the perfect marriage I had built in my head all those years ago. I let go of the ideal romance that the movies and books shove down our throats. I stopped comparing my relationship with those around me. I stopped dwelling on what I felt were his shortcomings and started focusing on the little things he did that made me happy. I started showing him more appreciation for the daily things he does for our family, even if it is as small as folding a load of towels. I quit harping on him about every little thing I disagreed with or felt he did wrong. I learned not to sweat the small stuff and let things go. Once I found myself letting go of the fantasy I became happy. I became more in love with him and our relationship began to thrive.

Will we still have rough patches? Probably. However, those bad days won't seem as bad if I just let go a little bit.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

It finally happened and I am no longer in the 300 club, I slid right in to the 200 club this

week.

The last time I was in the 200s is best described in the words of Billy Joel "I haven't been there for the longest time".

I will say that I was right on the cusp of breaking 300 this last weekend and then my sweet baby angel passed her stomach virus on to me. I was sick Monday and that solidified the victory. I weighed this morning to make sure it wasn't a dream and it still says the same....#winning!

Sunday, October 5, 2014

I can probably count on one hand how many things from Pinterest I have made or replicated. It is so fun to spend hours pinning things you will never do. I got a wild hair a couple of weeks ago after pinning some outfits and decided to replicate one of the outfits I found from Full Figured and Fashionable. Side note - I literally pinned like 10 of the outfits from her blog and will be trying to replicate them this fall/winter.

The jacket I already had (jean jackets are my fave), I stumbled across the skirt while browsing through Target clearance online ($13) and the shirt is a Lane Bryant cami I bought (after coupons $ 10). I don't have a thick belt but can foresee one in my future.